The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1887-06-09
JOSIAH PRINGLE'S SNAKE.
AS Big Around as Bari and as Long
as Over to the Meeting House.
brOnl the Nelr YOrk Sun.

HTOHL Gtt ANett IOFh sun.
LAKE LINDEN, MICH June 2-When the
forest fires in this vicinity were at their
worst old Josiah Pringle moved out of his
cabin in the woods, and made a camp on
| the railroad right of way as near the track
MS it was possible for him to get without
being in danger. The clearing at that point
| ON one side of the track was wide,
| whereas on the other the timber
came within few feet of the rails, and
| stood thick and heavy, with a dense under
| growth, then as dry as finder, fringing the
margin Josiah imagined that he had
| found refuge from the flames, for the fire
was then on the timbered side of the track,
and if it came up on the cleared side he was
confident that he would be able to get out of
| the way by taking to the track and "leg-
| ging it like the devil, as he expressed it,
Just at dark one evening when the wealth
| er was hottest, the smoke most dense, and
the fires were raging with unexampled fury
| in all directions, Josiah came into town on
a keen jump fairly reeking with perspira-
| ton. and his weather-beaten face abaze
| with excitement.
| IAN you fellers that want to see a snake
more'n mile long, just come with mel" he
yelled, darting off. Seeing that nobody was
| following him, and hearing the cries Of the
| boys bidding him to hold on, Josiah re-
turned, and was made to explain things.
Now, I'll tell you what it is, he gasped.
| Last night when | turned in there was
| sight of fire over to the east of me, and
| thought to myself that likes not I'd have
! to move before morning. but | never
dreampt that it would be a snake that'd do
| it, Well some time along in the night
| about morning, | guess, rolled over and
| felt something hot like a coal Oh my face,
| and all along the side of me, and jumping
up, says to myself the fires has come up to
,r,I I h,, Ill
| took me about three seconds to pick up my
| things hot and smoky as it was, but when /
| looked out of my tent my eyes lit on the all
| firedest snake that man ever
see in this State. 1t was bigger than
anything that the old timers used to tell
about on the Tittabowossi-a regular boa
constructor, with a tail and rattles, and
| shining along his back like peeled hem
lock. Hot as it was, it turned me cold in
| minute. I'd heard of fires driving the rep
tiles out of the forest to the clearings, but
this one was whale, with stripes ON him,
lying there alongside of us, and Kissing like
tug boat at Saginaw. Now, maybe
you think l didn't climb.
could smell my clothes and hair burning.
and the tent was in flames, and it want
more'n a minute before | was humping
it for town at a seven-mile gait just as /
got out of the fire little and had time to
breathe without sucking III fame, looked
back to the place that had left and could
see the snake through the fire and smoke
up the track like lightning He's bigger
around than n salt barrel and as long as
from here to the meeting house yonder.
You don't want to be going down there
hunting him unless you've got cannon or
something. That's what came up for"
When the old man finished his story the
boys laughed and persuaded him that as the
fires were so dangerous it would be folly to
go out until they had subsidized Once as
sured that there would be a grand snake
hunt as soon as the burning had stopped,
Josiah contented himself for a week with
the narration of his remarkable adventure.
At the end of that time several of the bows
shouldere1 their guns and set ont with
Josiah for his camp. When they arrived
there they found a construction gangat work
replacing the warped rails with straight
ones, and it became evident to everybody
but the old man that the snake be had
seen through the flame and smoke was made
up of about dozen lengths of rail which
had been warped into various fantastic
shapes by the intense heat TO which they
were exposed, and which though he was
Iuore remote from it, came very near chok-
ing HIM alive. AT first he would not accept
this explanation, but q man who saw him
yesterday at his cabin, which was not
burned, says the old fellow il now CON
WINGED of his error, and is feeling very sore
about it. IF it had been a snake Josiah
said, "I'd have made my everlasting for.
tune with it il n side show in the copper